The Islamic saying “A people who entrust their affairs to a woman will never succeed” has been rekindled in Morocco after King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as prime minister, the first woman to hold the post. Mustafa Ramid, a former justice minister in an Islamist-led government, cited the saying earlier this month in a lengthy Facebook post questioning whether a woman should hold the country’s highest political office. He argued that Morocco, a Muslim-majority country, had struck a balance between equality and the responsibilities of leading the state, given that the top job, that of king, continued to be reserved for men.
Morocco operates as a monarchy, with the king’s power defined by the constitution. However, executive power remains in the hands of the 63-year-old monarch. El Mansouri’s Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) won the most seats in September’s parliamentary elections and then announced a coalition with three other parties. Together, they hold 207 of the 395 seats in parliament. El Mansouri’s appointment by the king was historic, but it highlighted lingering reservations about women holding positions of power. A day after her appointment, local broadcaster Chouf TV took to the streets to ask Moroccan men what they thought of a woman at the head of government.
Some men, mostly middle-aged or older, hesitated to respond. Some said they accepted the decision because it was the king’s choice. One gray-haired man, who did not give his name or age, said: “I find it strange that a woman is at the head of government. I’m not sure if I feel comfortable with this.” Criticism of the monarchy in Morocco can carry legal consequences. The Penal Code criminalizes some forms of insult or offense against the king, the royal family and the monarchy.
WAR FOR WOMEN
Online, the appointment became the subject of political satire. A video showing two women pulling each other’s hair was widely shared, accompanied by captions suggesting that this might be what parliamentary disagreements between El Mansouri and her colleagues might look like. However, many young Moroccans, especially women, welcomed her appointment. Although attitudes in Morocco are changing, conservative and religious views continue to have a strong influence.
Some of the country’s biggest debates over gender equality relate to family law, including inheritance, marriage and divorce. Under current inheritance rules, a daughter usually receives half the share a son would receive in comparable circumstances. The Supreme Council of Ulema, the country’s body of religious scholars, has resisted calls for equality in inheritance, citing Islamic jurisprudence. It has also opposed proposals to abolish the rule known as taasib, which in some cases can force orphaned girls who have no brothers to share their inheritance with male relatives, including distant ones. In a 2022 report, Morocco’s National Council for Human Rights said that unequal inheritance rules contributed to women’s poverty. Polygamy is also legal, under certain conditions. Proposed changes to the Family Code have included the possibility for women to stipulate in marriage contracts that their husbands cannot take another wife.
However, exceptions are also foreseen, including provisions related to infertility or illness of the first wife. Women’s rights organizations have criticized these exceptions, raising concerns about privacy and medical confidentiality. These issues are at the heart of proposals to reform the Moudawana, Morocco’s Family Code, which regulates marriage, divorce and child custody. A package of changes was announced in 2024, but the reforms have not yet been passed into law. In addition to family law, some girls and young women hope that the new prime minister will try to improve education for girls.
Morocco’s High Commission for Planning, the official national statistics agency, found in 2025 that only 55 percent of girls aged 15 to 17 in rural areas were attending school. Poverty, early marriage and school dropout remain major obstacles. In urban areas, the figure was 100 percent. “Many girls in rural Morocco drop out of school early because schools are far away, transport is unreliable or unavailable, and families with limited financial resources often keep their girls at home,” Chifae Laazouzi, a young Moroccan, told the BBC. She says one reason is that many girls in poor and rural areas cannot afford to buy menstrual hygiene products. “Menstrual health is still treated as a taboo… I would like to see free menstrual products in schools,” says Laazouzi.
HISTORICAL ACHIEVEMENT
El Mansouri is no stranger to politics. Over more than two decades in public life, she has served as mayor of Marrakesh, held government positions and was a member of parliament. For the past five years, she has served as Minister of National Territorial Planning, Urbanism, Housing and Urban Policies in the government of former Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch. Upon her appointment, El Mansouri described the moment as a historic achievement for Moroccan women. “Being the first woman at the head of government is not only a source of pride for me, but for all the women of the kingdom,” she said. Since her appointment, she has not indicated whether she plans to push through reforms to the Family Code.
So far in her political career, she has not made any prominent public statements on women’s rights, even as changes to inheritance rules, polygamy and the Family Code have been widely debated. Irene Fernandez-Molina, from the University of Exeter in the UK, sees the appointment in the context of the monarchy’s wider political interests. “Two headlines have dominated media coverage of the (September) parliamentary elections in Morocco: the lowest voter turnout in two decades and the appointment by King Mohammed VI of a woman as prime minister for the first time in the country’s history,” she told the BBC. “The second cannot be understood without the first,” she added. According to official figures, only 38 percent of registered voters took part in the election.
Fernandez-Molina describes the appointment as an example of “authoritarian state feminism,” which she defines as the selective, top-down use of the struggle for women’s rights to legitimize the regime. She argues that the elevation of a woman to the highest government post can be intended to create an image of modernization and progress, even as the political system and the pace of social reform remain largely unchanged. For Yasmina Benslimane, a Moroccan women’s rights activist, the appointment breaks a long-standing barrier, but El Mansouri’s background is also significant. “This appointment challenges stereotypes because it finally breaks a ceiling that had never been broken before,” she says. “But the way it got there matters.”
El Mansouri’s late father was a pasha, a high-ranking local official, and a diplomat. Benslimane argues that her privileged background and access to political networks set her apart from many Moroccan women who have fewer opportunities to participate in public life. For Benslimane, as for many women’s rights organizations in the country, the Moudawana reform remains a key test for the new government.
However, El Mansouri’s ability to act is determined by the country’s political system. The king retains broad powers in key areas, including defense and foreign policy, while the head of government operates within a system where power is divided. As for Moudawana’s reform, she will have to face the country’s religious scholars, most of whom are men. While some Moroccan women welcome her appointment, they say what she will do as prime minister is crucial. “I don’t think El Mansouri should be judged solely by the fact that she is a woman. Being a woman in power doesn’t automatically make you a defender of women’s rights,” Sara Zouiten, a young Moroccan, told the BBC. “Her party presents itself as a political force that aims for modernization, so I want to see if that will translate into concrete changes,” she added. (BBC)